It is well known that when a communication terminal intends to transmit voice signals and/or data (i.e., make a call), the communication terminal does not initially have any network resources (traffic channels) dedicated thereto. Instead, conventional communication networks include one or more random access channels that are used by all communication terminals within a given boundary to acquire traffic channels. One or more network nodes are responsible for the orderly allocation of traffic channels to communication terminals. More specifically, a communication terminal will signal to a network node (e.g., satellite, base station, etc.) that the terminal intends to transmit. The network node then provides the communication terminal with a traffic channel assignment. Because the random access channels are used by the terminals to acquire traffic channels, the random access channels are referred to herein as acquisition channels.
Generally, a plurality of communication terminals may operate within a given boundary, but the communications terminals do not have knowledge of each other. As such, it is possible that multiple communication terminals could attempt to simultaneously access a particular acquisition channel. This simultaneous access by the communication terminals may result in collisions between the access attempts, effectively blocking the communication terminals from accessing the network at that instant even though traffic channels may still be available for use. Because there is congestion at the acquisition channels, the communication network is referred to herein as experiencing “acquisition congestion.” Acquisition congestion may cause all of the communication terminals to wait a period of time before re-attempting an access of the acquisition channel, thereby causing delays that can be noticeable to a user. These delays can directly affect the efficiency and perceived level of quality of service (QoS) of the communication network. As such, communication networks need techniques to improve performance when the network experiences acquisition congestion.